ABRAHAM GEIGER AND THE INFLUENCE OF JUDAISM ON ISLAM: Abraham Geiger (1810-1874) was one of the founders of Reform Judaism. American Thinker writes about another of Geiger's accomplishments:

Rather than refute the centuries old claim that Jews corrupted Mohammad, Geiger turned Peter's argument around by affirming the worth of the Jewish influence in Islam. He argued that the influence was good. Geiger created the myth of the ‘Golden Age' of Spain. In Spain, Jews joined with their hosts in a symbiosis and were able to acquire rank, wealth, and culture under Moslem rule. Geiger contrasted the mythical Spanish Jew with the seemingly backward 19th century Eastern European Jew under Christian rule. Geiger defended Mohammed and the worth of Islam as it intertwined with Judaism. He wrote about it in a monograph when he was 23 years old.

In his paper, he tried to show that Mohammad borrowed from Judaism. Geiger produced textual links, details of borrowing, and demonstrations of rabbinic ideas that came into the Koran. The paper was considered a break-though in the study of Islam.

You can read an English translation of Geiger's paper here.
[Hat tip: Larwyn]

Technorati Tag: Judaism and Islam and Abraham Geiger.